This is Barry Wilson's account of the voyage of his great-great-grandparents, Richard and Margaret Wilson, and their six children, from Glasgow to Port Chalmers in 1858, and their lives as managers of Morven Hills, eventually to become one of the biggest sheep farms in the southern hemisphere, running 250,000 stock at its peak.
Living the dream involved driving stock across the Waitaki River in flood, six-day round trips in ox-hauled wagons to get supplies from Oamaru, and living in temporary shacks.
Years down the track, their employer, entrepreneur John McLean, helped the extended family into farm ownership. Not an overnight rags-to-riches story, but commendably readable.
- Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.
